Sunday, January 3, 2010

#70 - Charlie Hough

FINALLY! Thank you, Topps, for giving us a full body shot. Hough looks like, well, Hough in this shot, just finishing his release on that knuckler he threw for 25 seasons. The photo gives us a nice look at the stirrups and the "TEXAS" across the jersey, a look I always liked.

Hough was an interesting story. He didn't become a full time starter until he was 34. AND THEN STARTED 400 MORE GAMES. That's pretty amazing. And it's not as if he wasn't an effective pitcher to that point. He had several good seasons out of the pen for LA but didn't get a chance to start regularly until he was sold (yes, sold) to Texas. From there he churned out start after start, even starting 40 games 1987. He was remarkably consistent, winning between 10 and 18 games every year from '82-'90, never having an ERA+ better than 128 or worse than 91. He finished his career with the expansion Marlins, even acting as Florida's opening day starter in '93 and '94 (at 46 years old).

'87 Topps

Welcome to the '87 Topps blog, a card-by-card look at my first and favorite baseball card set. I'll be scanning in each card and commenting on, well, whatever I feel like. The photo, the stats, any weird memories of the player I have, etc. Enjoy!

Oh, and if you haven't seen it, check out the definitive card-by-card blog here.-BloggerDK